The Pearl Fishers at ENO in June/July 2010

[KathyC]

Thanks, TeeBee! That reminded me I had an e-mail from the ENO about this produciton which included a video of Alfie.

Bummed that I'm not going to be able to see this...

[teebee]

For the latest news story on the production from Whats On Stage - go to the news section or CLICK HERE

[KathyC]

Thanks again, TeeBee. Great article. Liked the mention of the Proms concert he did with Michael Ball, and the mention of Kismet -- my introduction to Alfie!

[teebee]

The same podcast (ENO site) can be accessed via the Independent as well, with the following write up...

Classical podcast: Alfie Boe

We're backstage at the London Coliseum during the first stage and make-up rehearsals for ENO's new production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.

Edward Seckerson dodges the traffic in Alfie Boe's dressing room to chew over the young lyric tenor's chequered career to date, including his stint on Broadway in Baz Luhrmann's production of La Boheme and his ensuing flirtations with operatic pop stardom. Alfie has a natural ability to inhabit the many different styles of music theatre and can be as engaging in comic Viennese operetta (his recent album of operetta bon-bons suggested he could become a matinee idol at the Vienna Volksoper) as he is endearing in Britten's Albert Herring or vibrant and impassioned as Kudrjas in Janacek's Katya Kabanova.

The work ethic comes from his Northern upbringing and the days spent soaking up his father's LP collection of golden age tenors. Just as well he turned out to be one. He still reveres Richard Tauber and Beniamino Gigli and, most of all, Jose Carreras for his "very special timbre". Alfie has the dubious distinction of having sung the Pearl Fishers duet with Michael Ball (LOL) at Ball's Prom a couple of years back and he talks darkly and mysteriously of a possible encounter with the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. Could there be a concert performance in the offing this summer? Will Matt Lucas be Thenadier? And might a stint at London's Queen's Theatre be on the cards? I couldn't possibly comment....

CLICK HERE

Source: The Independent CLICK HERE

[teebee]

For some photos from the dress rehearsal CLICK HERE

[KathyC]

Lovely photos. Looks like it will be a great production!

[teebee]

For the Guardians article about the production go to the news section or CLICK HERE

[coconutcream]

Lovely to see the production photos, thanks for showing them. I am really looking forward to the show now! I read in the paper there are going to be bargains with the tickets at the half price booth, so that should encourage a few more people to go perhaps!

[juliex]

Thank you for putting up the photos teebee

[teebee]

Review

"...Quinn Kelsey (Zurga) and Alfie Boe (Nadir) don’t short-change us with the number, Boe whacking out the top line with a new-found openness and edge to his sound. No question that this bantam-weight lyric voice is growing and darkening quite dramatically though paradoxically I’d like to have heard a little more of the old operetta “enticement” in the phrasing of the aria where he is lost in the rapture of his memories for Leila. But one thing you always get with Alfie Boe, vocally and physically, is truth and honesty..."

Source: The Independent CLICK HERE

[teebee]

Reviews

"...Alfie Boe has some graceful and exciting moments as Nadir..."
The Stage

"...Alfie Boe sings with a passionate sweetness and brings a winning, youthful energy to his performance..,"
Metro

"...The ardent singing of Alfie Boe and Quinn Kelsey... captures well the aching intensity..."
Evening Standard

"...Beautifully sung by Boe and Kelsey. Alfie Boe’s Nadir is anything but a nadir. His voice is gloriously secure up to a ringing top B, and he vaults a 6ft wire-mesh fence with equal aplomb — no easy feat in a sarong.’
‘And that duet? Beautifully sung by Boe and Kelsey, it’s the pearl that justifies the whole show..."
The Times

"...Just as the eye is adjusting to this magnificent scene, along comes “Au fond du temple saint”, the duet made famous 50 years ago by Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill’s recording. Here it was rousingly yet elegantly sung by Alfie Boe and Quinn Kelsey, both giving exceptionally strong vocal performances as the eternal friends Nadir and Zurga. Boe then went on to shine brightly in the opera’s other hit number, Nadir’s haunting aria, “Je crois entendre encore...”
Telegraph

[rachdun]

Thanks for posting the reviews and photos Teebee

[Margaret]

Thanks for the reviews teebee.

[teebee]

General production reviews from the press

'...Penny Woolcock’s new production opens with a stunningly beautiful tableau... the entire stage is transformed into an underwater paradise. What follows is almost equally impressive – an evocation of the ghat of an Indian river. Just as the eye is adjusting to this magnificent scene, along comes “Au fond du temple saint”... rousingly yet elegantly sung by Alfie Boe and Quinn Kelsey, both giving exceptionally strong vocal performances...'
Daily Telegraph

'...Woolcock and her team have devised some strikingly beautiful stage effects...'
The Independent

'...The young Scottish conductor Rory Macdonald keeps the lyricism flowing impressively...'
The Times

'...His Verdian sound is full and rich from ringing top to resonant bottom, the expressive use of the hoary text moving to tears...'
The Arts Desk on Quinn Kelsey

'...Rory Macdonald in the pit drives Bizet’s score with impulsive ardour firing up the rabble-rousing choruses and fervent hymns of praise...'
The Independent

[juliex]

Wonderful reviews, thank you for posting them teebee